Stop Overpaying for Public Transport

Are you spending more than necessary on public transport each month? You could be one of 114,000 adults and seniors who did in April alone.

I raised this issue in Parliament on 5 April 2026 when I realised I was paying much more than I needed to. After observing commuters exiting the fare gates in Sembawang, the area that has recorded the longest commutes, I noticed very few adults had the distinctive orange light signalling a concession card when they tapped their cards. Adult commuters spending over $122 and senior citizens spending over $55 every month could save substantially by purchasing a monthly travel pass. Students, NSFs, persons with disabilities and Workfare recipients could similarly benefit. See here for the full list of monthly passes.

In his answer, the Minister for Transport noted that, in April 2026, about 56,000 adults and 58,000 seniors who did not have monthly passes each spent more on public transport than what the pass would have cost them.

We need better targeted outreach at MRT stations and on media channels to help commuters make smarter financial choices.

Have you checked your monthly transport spending recently?

This is the full question and answer from 5 Aug 2026:

Mr Gerald Giam Yean Song asked the Minister for Transport:

a. how many active Adult Monthly Travel Passes and Senior Citizen Monthly Concession Passes are there currently;

b. how many adults and senior citizens spent more than $122 and $55 a month respectively on public transport in April 2026; and

c. whether the Ministry will systematically promote such monthly travel passes to eligible commuters to help them manage transport costs.

Reply by Minister for Transport Jeffrey Siow:

• In April 2026, about 23,500 Adult Monthly Travel Passes and 41,800 Senior Citizen Monthly Concession Passes were sold. In the same month, about 56,000 adults and 58,000 seniors who did not have monthly passes each spent more on public transport than what the pass would have cost them.

• In 2025, the Public Transport Council (PTC) reduced the prices of monthly passes by about 5% to encourage take up. PTC and SimplyGo also reaches out to commuters across various channels, including social media and online platforms, to raise awareness of the monthly passes.

Source: Ministry of Transport

Author: Gerald Giam

Gerald Giam is the Member of Parliament for Aljunied GRC. He is the Head of Policy Research of the Workers' Party of Singapore. The opinions expressed on this page are his alone. View all posts by Gerald Giam